Westminster update: Assisted Dying Bill committee stage

Our president calls for modern slavery protections

Read our president Richard Atkinson’s opinion piece in the Times (paid).

He argues that the government's new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill must restore modern slavery protections.

Assisted Dying Bill: Law Society concerned raised

Several MPs highlighted our concerns about new provisions to create Assisted Dying Review Panels in the latest sitting of committee stage for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

On Tuesday 11 March and Wednesday 12 March, Leadbeater’s amendment to replace High Court approval with a panel made up of a senior legal expert (a judge or KC), a social worker and a psychiatrist was raised for debate during committee stage proceedings.

Speaking on her new amendment, Leadbeater noted that “the Law Society, which is neutral on assisted dying, says that if the law were to change, the system must have ‘robust, accessible and independent safeguards’ as well as ‘strong independent monitoring and review mechanisms’. I agree.

"The introduction of a multidisciplinary panel of experts to consider all applications for an assisted death, overseen by a commissioner in the form of a High Court judge, sitting or retired, really does achieve that”.

In response, Daniel Francis (Labour) also highlighted our position, noting that “I will not read out all four pages of its most recent submission on the matter, but, although it is neutral, it does continue to have concerns and queries about the new provisions.”

He went on to highlight our concerns about:

• the role and accessibility of the review panels
• whether it would be accessible and workable for people seeking assistance
• the resourcing required
• the role that lawyers may need to play
• the availability of legal aid

Rebecca Paul (Conservative) rose to speak on an amendment requiring Assisted Dying Panels to follow an adversarial process to test the evidence by appointing a legal advocate to the panel.

Leadbeater asserted that the panels would be inquisitorial rather than adversarial.

In response, Danny Kruger (Conservative) responded that, if panels are to operate in this way, then they must therefore have proper inquisitorial powers and authority.

Kruger highlighted that “at the moment, there is a lack of genuine power to investigate the circumstances. If it not going to be adversarial but inquisitorial, it should have proper powers to make an investigation.”

The committee will continue debating this issue next week as committee stage proceedings draw to a close.

Justice questions: MPs echo our concerns on intermediate courts

On Tuesday 11 March, MPs raised concerns during Justice Questions about:

• intermediate courts
• new sentencing guidelines
• the backlog in the Crown Court

Conservative MP Sarah Bool used a question to highlight our view that creating an intermediate court to address the Crown Court backlog would be a waste of time and resources.

Justice minister Sarah Sackman said the government is focused on bringing down the backlog and that the Leveson review of the courts is considering all options to achieve this, including the creation of an intermediate court.

We have argued that, rather than creating new courts, the government should focus resources on sitting days, judges, court staff, and repairing court buildings so cases can be heard efficiently.

The shadow lord chancellor, Robert Jenrick, criticised new guidelines from the Sentencing Council advising a pre-sentencing report be requested for those from ethnic minority backgrounds, accusing the government of overseeing a “two-tier” justice system.

The lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, said in response that she would never allow a two-tier system to form and would be meeting with the Sentencing Council to discuss the guidelines, pledging to bring forward legislation if required to ensure any changes are fair.

MPs also asked what is being done to modernise processes in the Crown Court.

Mahmood acknowledged that the rate of disposals in the Crown Court has dropped and said this is why the Leveson review is considering greater use of AI and other technologies to enhance efficiency.

Border Security Bill: Law Society pushed for Illegal Migration Act repeal

MPs raised our concerns about the unlawful and dangerous rule of law implications of the Safety of Rwanda Act and Illegal Migration Act during committee stage proceedings on the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill on Tuesday 11 March.

The government’s new immigration Bill repeals the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act entirely.

Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party) highlighted that the bill was “described by the Law Society as ‘defective’ and ‘constitutionally improper’ and it was declared unlawful in the Supreme Court.”

Becky Gittins (Labour) also noted that “the Law Society, in welcoming the repeal of the Rwanda Act, said in its evidence to this committee that the act ‘set a dangerous legal and constitutional precedent by legislating to overturn an evidence-based finding of fact by UK courts that Rwanda is an unsafe country to send asylum seekers to.’”

Wishart also spoke on his new clause 2 (suggested by the Law Society) to repeal the Illegal Migration Act entirely.

The government’s bill, as it currently stands, keeps several clauses relating to immigration crime.

These include section 29 which mandates that victims of trafficking and modern slavery who have criminal convictions or are considered a threat to public order are disqualified from support and protection.

We oppose this clause on the grounds that it would restrict victims of modern slavery from accessing justice in cases where they may have been coerced into committing crimes.

In response, the minister Dame Angela Eagle noted that public order grounds include serious criminality and threats to national security and that such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, considering the individual’s vulnerabilities.

This amendment was subsequently withdrawn.

Employment Rights Bill passes Commons

The Employment Rights Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons, with the bill passing its third reading on Wednesday 12 March.

It will now head to the House of Lords for further scrutiny from peers.

The bill is one of the largest reforms of employment rights in decades, creating new rights and new government bodies to enforce them.

Labour MP Jayne Kirkham highlighted our concern about the backlog of cases in employment tribunals.

She argued this needs clearing, with investment in the tribunals alongside the legislation.

We have argued that if the new rights created by the bill are to be enforceable, employment tribunals need to be better resourced and able to handle the volume of cases coming forward.

Conservatives criticised the bill, arguing that it:

• creates too many quangos
• would damage economic growth
• places too many responsibilities on small businesses

Shadow business minister Greg Smith brought forward amendments to require the government to consider the impact of the bill on economic growth when bringing its provisions into force, but these did not pass.

The bill now moves to the House of Lords and we look forward to working with peers to ensure the legislation is workable.

Coming up:

We are working closely with MPs and peers to influence a number of bills before parliament:

• Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will continue committee stage in the Commons which began on 4 March
• Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will have its report stage in the Commons on 17 March
• Data (Access and Use) Bill will have its report stage in the Commons, date to be confirmed
• Employment Rights Bill will have its second reading in the Lords on 27 March
• Mental Health Bill will have its report stage in the Lords on 31 March
• Planning and Infrastructure Bill will have its second reading in the Commons on 24 March
• Renters Rights Bill will have its committee stage in the Lords, date to be confirmed
• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill began its committee stage in the Commons on 21 January